The gender roles of men and women can be studied through the .
One familiar outlet is television, and the old and new shows it offers .
for comparison. The best way is to look at two similar television shows. .
One from the sixties and seventies, Bewitched, and the other from the .
nineties to current, Charmed. Bewitched and Charmed can be used as a .
compatible comparison because these shows are built on the same general .
storyline. Both have strong female characters that are mothers, sisters, .
wives, and witches. Also, the shows have equally strong male roles that .
show husbands, in-laws, and strong masculine personalities. Within these .
two television shows you can see how mainstream ideals and masculine and .
feminine personalities have changed but the general principles are the same.
By evaluating the characters, each show portrays we can begin to .
compare the male and female gender roles from earlier television against .
today. One way we can look at this is the way each female character dresses .
in relationship to each other and their male counter parts yesterday and .
today. By looking at each woman's duties within the family we can see the .
differences in the decades they represent. We can represent the comparative .
roles each member plays in their television family. Finally we can compare .
their relationship with their husbands and vise-a-versa.
The clothing of Samantha, the lead female role on Bewitched, shows .
the version of the classic house wife and mother we have all grown up with .
as a standard. Samantha is shown perfectly coiffed whether she is getting .
ready for bed, waking in the morning, cleaning house or taking care of her .
children. She rarely if ever was shown in a pair of pants. Samantha was .
mostly shown in knee length dresses and a white apron around her waist .
whenever she was in the kitchen preparing breakfast, lunch, or dinner. In .
contrast Piper, the female lead of Charmed, is shown in a more realistic view .
